


Everyone Can See It

by darkemberdagger



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/F, Might have some angst, Some Swearing, pretty fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-21 18:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7398838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkemberdagger/pseuds/darkemberdagger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All it takes is being around Riley and Maya to know they belong together. Who hasn't figured out the obvious? Riley and Maya.<br/>Or a look into several characters' minds and how they feel about our favorite girls.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Farkle Minkus

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fanfiction in a very long time so please forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. But if a pairing was going to get me out of my writing slump, it's definitely Rilaya.

Farkle Minkus was a genius. There was no denying this fact and anyone who did would receive an itemized list of test scores, evaluations, and character references stating so. He concluded this was the primary reason that no one dared challenged him.

So yes, Farkle was often the smartest person in the room, not counting the times that a certain Smackle was also in the same room, which should have annoyed him but instead made him feel all _bloylalaloo_ whenever their eyes met. And he had two people to thank for showing him the wonders of an emotion called love.

Riley Matthews and Maya Hart.

He had met them as a unit and has known them as one ever since. One Halloween party when they were children was all it took to forge a lifelong friendship between him and them. Riley, all encompassing warmth and smiles and Maya, a creative powerhouse and strength that didn’t seem possible. Separately, they were two of the greatest people he’s ever known. One always ready to put a smile on his face and the other always ready to chase away whatever bothered him. He was lucky to even know one of them, let alone both of them. But that was the magic of Riley and Maya: with one, you always get the other. And you thank whichever philosopher you believe in the most that that’s the case.

Together, Riley and Maya were an explosion of laughter and passion and loyalty and a fierce love Farkle thought only existed in those romance books they were assigned to read in English class. Together, Riley and Maya challenged the scientific world he understood and replaced it with one so full of emotion and uncertainties he didn’t even know where to begin to figure out but was dying to start anyways. Together, Riley and Maya were an unstoppable force and an immovable object that when collided, somehow danced together in brilliant color and turned everything Farkle thought he knew upside down into one tempting uncertainty.

Aristotle once said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Riley and Maya were proof.

He had promised to love them both equally the day they met and he kept his promise. But as they got older, he knew how he loved them would never be able to compare to how they loved each other. It was more than friendship or sisterhood. It was better than what you saw in the movies. It was the kind of love he saw glimpses of in his parents when they weren’t arguing or throwing wedding rings at each other. All you had to do was pay attention.

==

In school:

“Maya.” Riley opened the door to her locker and faced the blonde to her left. “Do you think I’ll ever be in a relationship in high school or am I just-” Riley sucked in her lower lip as she thought about it, “…too Riley?”

To Maya’s credit, Farkle noted as he watched them from his locker across the hall, she was only slightly distracted by Riley’s lips. She finally looked into the teary brown eyes that hurt Farkle’s heart even from a distance. But if anyone could cure those, it was Maya. “What? Riley, come on. You’re _perfect_. There isn’t anyone who wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with you.”

Farkle felt like banging his head against his locker as Riley happily collected her books and they walked off arm in arm.

==

Or at their Bay Window:

“Maya, it’s stunning!” Farkle heard as he abruptly stopped on the fire escape so close but just out of sight of Riley’s bedroom window.

He could practically feel Maya’s nervousness. “Are you sure? I know I sort of strayed from the assignment and Mrs. Kossal doesn’t like it when-“

“Peaches.” Riley’s hand lifted her chin so they were facing each other, her other hand grabbing one of Maya’s. “It’s beautiful. Mrs. Kossal is going to love it. I love it! And I love _you_.”

“I love you too, Riles.” Was the instant reply.

Farkle was torn between wanting to give them their privacy and possibly seeing the inevitable kiss he had been waiting for since they were all in elementary school.

Seconds passed as smiles became shyer and blushes got brighter. He could’ve sworn he saw Maya move an inch forward…

“Riley!” Auggie’s booming voice shattered the moment from outside her bedroom door. Farkle would’ve yelled his frustration if not for fear of being found out. “Mommy says dinner’s ready and to bring Maya if she’s in there with you.”

“Coming!” Riley yells back as the two of them get up and walk away, hands still intertwined. Farkle doesn’t stop sighing until he’s completely gone down the fire escape.

==

Or especially, _especially_ , when they’re around Lucas:

“All right, everyone!” Mr. Matthews called from the front of the bus as they pulled into the museum’s parking lot. “I’ll say this one more time: Before lunch, you and a partner will go to the exhibit that’s assigned to you and learn as much as you can so that later this week, we can have presentations.” He paused for the groans from everyone on the bus that always took place after the first part. “Yeah, yeah. Then we’ll meet for lunch in the lobby at 11:30 and after that, you can go about the museum as you wish. I’ll come around with the partner sheet and assignments. Have fun today.”

Farkle ignored the slight cheers that took place, his attention on Maya and Riley in the seat in front of him.

“I hope we get an assignment that doesn’t bore me to tears.” Maya said in an already bored tone. Farkle noticed Lucas’ head shoot up next to him as Riley laughed.

“Hoping for one of the art exhibits, Peaches?”

“Obviously.”

“And if we don’t get one?”

“Then I apologize in advance for you doing most of the work.”

Lucas finally spoke up though Farkle knew what he was going to say. “Wait, you two already paired off? I thought maybe…one of you would want to…”

Both girls had the same look of guilt on their faces as they turned around and Farkle gave a sympathetic pat on Lucas’ back. “Don’t worry. I wanted to pair up with you anyways.”

Lucas smiled. “Yeah because Smackle’s on the other bus!” His shoulder pat turned into a hit.

Mr. Matthews came up to Riley and Maya. “Girls! I have just the assignment for you.”

Maya grins as she’s handed one of the art exhibits and in between Maya trying to get Riley to confess that she planned it and Riley dramatically denying it, Farkle notices that their names were already filled out next to each other on the buddy form before Mr. Matthews even got to them.

Lucas visibly deflates and Farkle knows he realized it too.

“Sorry, Huckleberry.”

“Maybe next time, Lucas!” They say as they run off.

When the two of them are _finally_ on their way to the museum, Farkle feels bad for being excited when his friend is so down.

“I just thought at least one of them might want to spend some time together by ourselves, ya know?” Lucas turns to him.

Farkle nods. “I know.” And he does.

==

Sometimes Farkle wants Lucas to figure it out for himself. After all, it’s so obvious. And sometimes, Farkle wants to put his best friend out of his misery and let him know that the real reason this stupid triangle isn’t going anywhere has nothing to do with him.

But more than anything, he wants Riley and Maya to come to terms with their feelings and be happy. And he’s willing to wait for that no matter how long it takes.

He just hopes it doesn’t take too long. I mean, he’s waited almost ten years. Give a genius a break. 

 

  


	2. Topanga Lawrence-Matthews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Topanga's take on her daughter and her daughter's best friend.

Topanga had always felt like life happened quickly for her and Cory. They met young, started dating as teenagers, got engaged during their high school graduation, got married while still in college, and started a family not too long after that. Some people would say, and have said, that they did everything too fast and should’ve slowed down. She was just glad they had more time together as a family.

Topanga wouldn’t change a moment of their lives. And she knows Cory feels the same. Because while their journey hadn’t been the smoothest, it ultimately led them to 6 AM on a chilly December morning where the precious cries of a newborn Riley Matthews could be heard all the way to the nurses station.

Riley was perfect in every way and a few years later, they would think the same of Auggie. She was a sweet-tempered baby who got up like clockwork at 1 and 4 AM and who thought any moment she wasn’t being held was a moment wasted. Topanga didn’t mind though, wanting to spend as much time with her baby girl as she could in between studying for the BAR exam and looking for jobs. And when she wasn’t available, an unfortunate fact that became more frequent as she got more successful, Cory was all too happy to hold the angel that gave him the same smile on his face that he had when she walked down the aisle.

Or whenever he saw Shawn, which was dwindling as the years went by.

They knew they were spoiled with Riley and that if they had more children after her, which they both wanted to, it would not be as easy. She was kind, well mannered, barely had tantrums, and actually liked following rules. It was a dream come true for any parent. But Riley was also, and it broke Topanga’s heart to even think this, very lonely. Cory and her had spent many nights talking about how to help her, even moving up their plans for having another baby so that both their children could grow up together. They knew Riley had an imaginary friend that protected her but they were never able to figure out what Riley thought she needed protection from. They just hoped that when she started school soon, she’d be able to open herself up enough to make friends.

Enter Maya Hart.

The day had started out like any other so Topanga had no reason to believe that their lives would be forever altered for the better. She had woken up and gone to work that day while leaving Riley in the care of Mrs. Svorski in the morning and Cory in the afternoon after he finished summer school, came home a little later than usual, checked on Riley who was playing quietly in her room like she normally did and helped Cory finish making dinner. It was just another simple day in the Matthews-Lawrence house. Until Topanga called Riley to come for dinner. She smiled when she saw her daughter appear from the doorway. And nearly screamed when she saw Riley holding the hand of a blonde little girl who was definitely _not_ there when Topanga checked on her.

Unsurprisingly, Cory did scream.

“Mommy, Daddy!” Riley squealed. “This is Maya but I call her Peaches and we’re going to be best friends forever and can she stay for dinner _please_?”

Topanga’s heart was racing a mile a minute but she noticed that the young girl - Maya – was startled by Cory’s outburst. She threw an oven mitt at him and bent down so she was eye level with the two girls.

“Hello, Maya. I’m Riley’s Mommy. And that dope over there is Riley’s Daddy. It’s nice to meet you.”

Topanga saw Maya glance at Riley, who gave an enthusiastic nod and she would be lying if she said it didn’t melt her heart.

“You too.”

Cory appeared next to her. “Hi, Maya. Sorry about before. We would love for you to stay for dinner but we have to ask your parents if it’s okay. Can you give us their number?”

After a frantic phone call to Maya’s mother and confirming that Maya had no allergies, they all ate at the dinner table as her and Cory watched in surprise at how Riley and Maya got along like old friends until the insistent beeping of the intercom interrupted them.

“Maya! Sweetie!” Katy Hart was in tears as she ran to Maya and picked her up, hugging tightly. Topanga never wanted to imagine the heart attack that came with finding your child missing. “Don’t ever leave like that again, baby! Ever!”

“I’m sorry! I wanted to go somewhere with no yelling.” Maya confessed and Katy looked up in embarrassment.

“I know. I’m sorry, baby.”

“Mommy.” Maya’s voice was suddenly serious. Or as serious as a five year old could be. “This is Riley. She’s my best friend.”

“Hi Peaches’ Mommy!” Riley sang, stumbling on the ‘s’ sound as she tackled Katy in a hug.

“Oh!” Katy laughed. “Hi, Riley! Aren’t you a sweet girl.” She blinked. “Peaches?”

“Katy.” Topanga called. “I was just about to put on a pot of coffee. Can I interest you in some?” Topanga could sense vulnerability. It was part of being a lawyer. And Katy looked like a vulnerable woman who desperately needed a break.

“That’s very kind of you but,” Katy stood up, “I wouldn’t want to put you out even more than I have already.”

“Nonsense. It’ll give the girls some more time to play and give us an opportunity to get to know each other since something tells me these two,” she points at the girls, “are going to be friends for a long time.”

“Please! Please please!” Riley and Maya begged and Katy couldn’t refuse even if she wanted to.

“Coffee sounds lovely, thank you.”

That night, after a long talk with Katy, several promises to the girls that they would see each other again very soon for a play date, and many pictures of the two girls hugging as they said goodbye, Topanga had a few things to…discuss with Cory.

Such as

  1. What was the point of having a baby monitor in Riley’s room if Cory managed to miss the fact that a whole other person was in there with their daughter?
  2. They have _got_ to start locking Riley’s bedroom window. Not that they’re upset Maya came in but they live in New York, dammit. It’s no place for unlocked windows.
  3. Had you ever seen Riley so genuinely happy before?



And that was how the Harts entered their lives: an eventful evening followed by an eventful rest of days. Riley and Maya saw each other as much as they could and Cory managed to pull some strings and make sure they were in the same Kindergarten class, something Topanga and Katy were grateful for.

Maya started spending a lot of time at their home and Riley surprisingly refused to listen to her parents and kept the window unlocked so that Maya could use her preferred method of entry to come and go as she pleased. Even Mrs. Svorski said that she had never seen Riley so happy and it was all because of Maya; the two of them running around her bakery causing delightful mischief that reminded her of her family in Ukraine.

As the years went on and the families in the girls’ lives shifted, their relationship only became stronger. Sometimes Topanga would hear nonstop laughter coming from late at night during a sleepover and other times, it would be almost too quiet. That’s how she knew they were talking on the Bay Window. That had been their sacred place since they were five years old and nothing had changed almost a decade later.

She knew that she could get busy at work. And when she wasn’t, most of her attention was on Auggie. He was younger and still needed his mother. And while Riley did too, it just wasn’t as much anymore. And she had Maya who was always there to make her laugh or chase away whatever was bothering her as Topanga watched bittersweetly from the sidelines.

It was the highest level of trust a mother could give to someone else: to take care of one’s child. It was a trust she had given to Maya. It was a trust she knew Katy had given to Riley.

It was a trust Amy Matthews had given to her on behalf of her son when she finally figured out that Cory and her were meant to be.

Topanga had picked up on the hints for a while now. And it wasn’t from the various nicknames they had for each other or from the many times they both said “I love you”. It wasn’t even from the amount of times they held hands or cuddled or said some of the most _romantic_ things to each other, though Topanga was sure that all of these were signs of a relationship that was not rooted in being platonic.

No, it was all from the looks they shared, especially when the other wasn’t looking. Everyone might’ve said that Riley was just like Cory but apparently Topanga’s genes took over when it came to love. And that sparkle in Riley’s eye when she looked at Maya was the same sparkle Topanga got when she looked at Cory. It held wonder, a bit of fear, a little curiosity but most of all, it was the look someone got when they were staring at the person they wanted to spend the rest of their life with.

And Maya, as much as she tried to pull off the cool aloofness that so reminded Topanga of Shawn, whenever she looked at Riley, there was that same sparkle.

Topanga’s seen it when they were sitting at their bay window, pinkies intertwined, Riley reading a book and yet to notice that Maya had been sketching her for the past fifteen minutes. She’s seen it whenever there were parents arguing on the TV and Riley checks to make sure Maya’s okay while pulling her closer. She’s seen it when the two of them run to each other after being apart for sometime in a way that’s comical but still heartwarming.

She wonders how her husband hadn’t noticed it yet. The “sparkle in the eye” was the romantic stuff he usually lived for. She even had a bet with Katy going about when he would finally come to his senses and see that while he was so worried about some boy coming through Riley’s window – have to have another talk with her about locking that thing – and stealing their daughter’s heart, Maya Hart had been given it freely and gave Riley hers in return long ago.

She loves him. But he could be such a dope.

 

 


	3. Cory Matthews

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I had to pick whose chapter would be harder to write between Cory and Topanga, I would've said Topanga. But wow was I wrong.

Cory Matthews was no dope.

Yes, there was much evidence to the contrary – probably provided by his lovely wife Topanga and _not_ by Shawn, Cory would like to point out - but he was no dope when it came to important things. Like schemes. Or mashed potatoes. Definitely his family.

 _And love_ he thought as he watched his teenage daughter and her best friend laugh and continually nudge each other with their feet under the café table at Topanga’s. He shared a smile with Katy at the girls’ antics and went back to planning the week ahead. _Especially love._

He knew. Of course he knew.

He was Cory of “Cory and Topanga”. He recognized love when he saw it.

==

He loved Riley from the moment he knew she existed. Technically five minutes after he found out due to a brief fainting spell but since then, nothing but solid fatherly love. He was a bit more prepared when he found out Topanga was pregnant with Auggie: only a two minute blackout. The point is: he was excited to be a dad. He was also terrified.

It was every parent’s dilemma, he realized after talking about it with Topanga, his own parents, and Mr. Feeny who may not have had his own kids but still raised hundreds.

You want the best for your children. You want them to explore the world and find their place in it. Find love. Be happy. You also never want them to get hurt and those two lines of thinking were in direct contradiction of each other. That still didn’t stop him from looking into Riley’s eyes for the first time, so much like his own, and promising her both the world and that no one would ever hurt her in the same breath.

The moment he met Maya all those years ago, he’s pretty sure he scared her by yelling in shock at seeing a random child come out of his daughter’s room. He’s also pretty sure she’s made it her life’s mission to give him at least one heart attack, especially when it involved his daughter:

==

“This is crazy!” Riley yelled, gesturing at her phone. The two of them were watching videos in his eighth grade classroom after school, waiting for him to finish grading papers under the promise of receiving pizza as payment.

“We’re doing this, Riles.”

“Actually, you’re crazy.”

“We’re doing this.”

“We’ll probably die, Maya.”

“There’s only a small chance of that happening, Honey. As soon as we’re both eighteen, that’s how we’re celebrating.”

“Are you gonna make me _ring power_ this crazy idea?” Cory saw Maya’s smile falter for a second.

“Do you…really not want to do this? Because we won’t if you don’t-“

“Ring power.”

“What?”

“Ring power. As soon as we’re both eighteen, we’ll do this. And if we die, I get to say _I told you so_ as many times as I like and decide what’s written on our tombstone.” Riley held up her hand. “So?”

Maya grabbed her hand, their rings clinking together. “Ring power.” She smiled.

“What are you two watching?” He chose that moment to interrupt them, partly because he was done grading and partly because they looked so close to having their first kiss and he didn’t want to ruin that moment for them by freaking out and chasing Maya out of the room. Riley showed him the phone and all he could see from this distance was clouds, buildings, a flimsy parachute, and a human being going faster than a human being was ever meant to go. “Yeah, you two are not doing that.”

“Sorry, Dad. It’s been decided.” Riley said with a tone that sounded apologetic but a smile that was anything but.

Maya held up their hands, showcasing their “friendship” rings, which was really just a cute way of saying “pre-promise” rings in his books. “Face it, Matthews. Your little girl’s mine now.”

As he watched that all too familiar “Topanga sparkle” take root once again in Riley’s eyes as she smiled at Maya, he was forced to agree with the blonde’s last statement. It was a bittersweet feeling

==

Riley and Maya were opposites in pretty much every way. But then again, so were he and Shawn. And so were he and Topanga. And they were all perfect complements of each other because when it came to what mattered most, they were exactly the same.

He’s watched them throughout the years: saw how they changed each other, loved each other and just like in any relationship, fought with each other. He witnessed the nights that Maya would cry into Riley’s shoulder about her father leaving and Riley would just hold her tightly for hours, answering Maya’s silent question by promising not to leave her too, then make Maya’s favorite blueberry pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast in the morning. He’s seen, and was too late to stop, Maya from opening the bay window and letting herself in even after Riley tearfully explained that they couldn’t see each other for a week because “some kid in Auggie’s pre school had given him the chicken pox and then he gave it to her”.

He owed Katy for that one.

When Katy, Topanga, and him brought three children with chicken pox to the doctor’s office and explained that “one week was just too long”, the doctor thought that Riley and Maya were cutest friends she had ever seen.

It would’ve been easy to say that the two girls were the “Cory and Shawn” of the new generation and be done with it, as Topanga loved to tell him, but

  1. Cory and Shawn were the “Cory and Shawn” of any generation, thank you very much.
  2. Seriously, that’s just rude.
  3. He has both a Shawn and a Topanga so he’s clearly the best choice to make comparisons.
  4. Riley’s found a best friend in Maya like he did with Shawn. And she’s also found a home in Maya like he found in Topanga.
  5. Which means that Maya is Riley’s Shawn _and_ Topanga in one person and he might just be jealous of his daughter.



All kidding aside, he was worried for Riley. And for Maya. He knew what it was like to be certain you were meant to spend the rest of your life with one person from a young age. He’s been there and it’s intense. And he recognizes every little thing that Riley and Maya do that falls so far outside the realm of friendship but doesn’t seem like it to them because it’s always been how they acted.

Though he has to wonder how two people can watch so many romantic comedies and not _once_ look at each other and say, “so why do you think that couple acts exactly like we do?”

He knows they’ll come to it in their own time. It was inevitable. But they could still get hurt along the way and end up hurting each other if it didn’t happen sooner rather than later.

After all, they were in high school now. And that was where a whole new level of feelings opened up.

==

The first time Cory thinks they might be on their way to figuring it out, it’s the middle of the night and he has to stop himself from breaking out in a happy dance. He was returning to Auggie’s room with the glass of water he asked for when he heard whispers coming from Riley’s room.

“Maya?” He heard Riley’s voice and a slight hum from Maya. “Do you think once he chooses between us, it’ll change our relationship?” Riley sounds so sad that it takes everything in Cory not to go in there and comfort her himself. Luckily, he doesn’t need to.

“ _What?_ Riley, no! Not at all. Why would you-?“

“Because we saw what happened when Thor chose Nikki over Francesca and the two of them haven’t been the same since.”

“Riles, there’s nothing that Lucas could do that could change us. Nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Riley, yes!” He could feel Maya’s panicked frustration from here. “You’re the one always telling me that we’ll always be together. What changed?”

“Nothing!”

“Then why are you freaking me out with these questions?”

“Because,” Riley’s voice was choked, “because I could handle not being close to Lucas. It would hurt but I’d survive. But I wouldn’t be able to handle not being close to you.”

“And you think I would? Riley, if it comes down to choosing between you and Lucas, the answer is you every time. You mean so much more to me than he does.”

There was a long silence from inside the room that Cory almost thought they fell asleep. Until he heard Riley’s voice.

“You’re the most important person in the world to me.”

“Me too.”

Cory could have stood out there all night if it wasn’t for Auggie calling out for him. He immediately rushed in before he could alert the girls to his presence.

“What took you so long, Daddy?”

“Sorry, Bubba. I got distracted.” He kissed Auggie’s forehead and made his way back to his own room.

He didn’t know how their conversation ended. He didn’t know if they realized why they were okay with just being Lucas’ friend but the idea of not being close to each other tore them apart. Or if they just realized that the triangle they were caught in could in no way affect the two of them.

But he did know, he thought as he slid into bed next to his wife, that things were finally falling into place between them. He nearly woke his wife up to tell her the good news: that not only did he figure it out on his own but that he possibly partially witnessed the moment Riley and Maya figured it out.

Then again, he would like to be alive when they finally became a couple and waking a sleeping Topanga for no reason in the middle of the night was a way to assure that he would not be.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I mentioned in the beginning, this chapter was harder to write than I thought it would be. For that reason, I'm not as confident with how it came out. I hope it's okay.


	4. Zay Babineaux Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zay in the house!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few things  
> 1) This was posted a little later than I liked but I wanted to get it out today  
> 2) I love Zay.  
> 3) Once I started writing him, I had trouble stopping. So this is Part 1.

Zay Babineaux was a cool dude. He knew it, his friends knew it, and the whole school knew it. He didn't need them to make a big deal out of it. Would he appreciate if they acknowledged it from time to time? Sure. After all, he was the coolest out of his group of friends. You would expect it to be Lucas but nah, the guy had become such a softie with increasingly apparent poor manners since moving to the big city.

Seriously New Yorkers, y’all hate doors so much that you rather come in through the window? And people thought Texas was backwards. The only person who could be cooler than him was Maya if it weren't for her going all "heart eyes" whenever she was in the same room as Riley.

Maya Hart having "heart eyes" for Riley. Maya Hart Eyes. Ha, he was more than a pretty face. To think there was ever a time where he had no idea that the two of them should be a couple. That was the only down side of passing through life without a care: sometimes obvious things passed by you too.

Point is, it didn't matter if he was in Texas or New York, Zay had learned from a young age to just go with the flow and see where life takes him.

“Roll with the punches” as his grandmother always said. “Life has its ups and it’ll also knock ya down. But so long as you get back up again, it can’t ever stop you. Just keep being you, baby.”

Zay took that lesson to heart. Life was gonna do what it was gonna do, so all he had to do was enjoy the ride. He was true to himself and to his friends and let others be however they wanted to be. That right there was his own secret of life, though don’t tell Mr. Matthews. Not to take anything too seriously and laugh about it. Be chill.

There were certain occasions where he lost his easygoing nature though. It was just part of the downs of life that his grandmother told him about.

  * When he found out Lucas was moving all the way to New York. That hurt.
  * Especially since the reason his best friend was moving was because he kept getting into fights on Zay’s behalf.
  * **_VANESSA_** **!** Yeah, she was probably the most consistent example.
  * When one of his friends was hurting.



Especially that last one. He cared about his friends and he cared _hard_. It’s why he himself felt like he was being operated on as he hugged a crying Maya in a hospital hallway near the OR waiting room.

==

_Saturday, two days ago_

The five of them were in Riley’s bedroom waiting for Farkle to show up so that they could finally head to the movies. Well technically, Lucas, Smackle, and Maya were in Riley’s room while Zay was on the fire escape, waiting to be invited inside like a _gentleman_.

“Zay, would you just get in here?” Riley said from her spot on the Bay Window. “You should know I have an “open window” policy by now.” Her and Maya laughed at her dumb joke. Honestly, how he didn’t see it before…

“Say it.”

“Seriously?”

“Say it!”

“Oh my god.” Riley sighed. “Zay, so nice to see you! Please come in.”

She was exaggerating her words but it did the trick. He climbed through the window and purposefully sat in between Riley and Maya. They both shot him a look and he grinned. “Now was that so hard to say?”

“That was hard to watch.” Maya mumbled.

“So when is Farkle going to get here? I don’t want to miss the previews.” Lucas said.

“You _would_ look forward to the most boring part of the movie, Huckleberry.” Maya teased.

“I don’t want to miss the previews either, Peaches.” Riley told her.

Maya got up. “Alright. If Farkle’s gonna be a while, he might as well meet us there.”

“Actually,” Smackle spoke up. Zay almost forgot she was there; she could be so quiet sometimes. “He texted me not long ago and should be here any moment. The train in his house broke down and-“

Maya and him shook their heads, not wanting to hear anymore. He’d never been to Farkle’s house but from the stories he’s heard, it sounds insane.

“How big does a house have to be that you need a train?” He questioned.

“The train’s more for convenience.” Lucas said.

“All you really need is a map.” Smackle said.

“Yeah, one time Maya and I lost ours and we were stuck for like an hour.” Riley and Maya laughed.

Farkle’s head appeared through the window. “I found you two in the pool. You were fine.”

“Finally!” Lucas yelled. He climbed through the window and held his hand out for the next person. Smackle. Zay’s eyes lit up.

“Don’t look now, Izzy. Seems like Lucas is finally making his move! And right in front of the boyfriend, too.”

“Lucas, please! Not in front of Farkle!” Smackle exclaimed. Lucas glared at him as she took his hand anyways and climbed onto the fire escape. Riley stood up but gasped and stumbled into Maya, who immediately steadied her.

“Whoa Riles, are you okay?” Maya asked. He watched in concern.

Riley waved them off. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just got up too fast.” She turned to Maya and smiled. “Thanks. Nice reflexes.”

“Well, you’re pretty klutzy. I’ve gotta compensate.” They both laughed as Riley crawled out first followed by Maya. He left last, started to close the window, and sighed as the two girls called out that it wasn’t necessary. He closed it anyways out of spite.

That was the first sign that Riley wasn’t okay and Zay only saw more as the day went on. Riley was quiet as they made their way to the theatre as the rest of them all messed around. During the movie, she barely touched any of her popcorn and chocolate and Maya kept shooting her worried glances.

He saw Maya whisper to Riley during one of the kick-ass action sequences. “Hey, are you feeling okay? You haven’t eaten anything.”

“I’m fine. Just not very hungry.”

“You sure? We haven’t eaten since breakfast.” Riley squeezed their hands which Zay hadn’t even noticed they’d been holding this entire time.

“I’m fine.” He saw Lucas lean towards the two of them, noticing something was up.

“Is everything alright?” He asked.

“Everything’s fine.” Riley smiled.

“Shhh!” Farkle and Smackle chimed in, clearly annoyed at all the talking.

As the movie got over and they walked outside, Zay suggested they head to Topanga’s and everyone agreed.

Except Riley. “Actually, I might sit this one out. I’m kinda tired.”

==

_Sunday, yesterday_

He heard two beeps come from his phone. He glanced at the clock and went back to sleep. It was too early for this.

Five minutes went by. Another beep.

One minute. Beep.

_Y’all better have a good reason for waking me up at 10 AM_ he sighed and checked his phone. He had four notifications for the group chat “Clique Six”.

_Lucas “Mad Dog” Friar [10:04 AM]: Hey Riley_

_Lucas “Mad Dog” Friar [10:04 AM]: you feelin ok?_

_Izzy “2smart4me” Smackle [10:09 AM]: You weren’t acting like your usual self. Are you feeling all right?_

_Farkle “Wait for it” Minkus [10:10 AM]: Hello?_

_What a clingy bunch. At least give her ten minutes to respond._ Either way, Zay showed his support.

_Zay “The Man” Babineaux [10:11 AM]: Hope everything’s good. I know ur mom was all !!! when you weren’t with us yday._

He had nearly forgotten about the chat until he got a beep a few hours later while he was practicing his ballet routine.

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [1:26 PM]: Mrs. Matthews thinks it’s one of those 24 stomach bugs. Riley’s asleep now, had a bad nite_

Yup, he is not surprised Maya checked in on Riley last night.

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [1:26 PM]: tho I’m sure if she was up, she would say she’s just fine._

Damn, he could sense the bitterness just _reading_ that. Trouble in paradise?

But a while later, lo and behold:

_Riley “Sunshine” Matthews [3:40 PM]: Hi guys! Didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m totally fine, Maya took good care of me : )_

Huh. Zay wondered if the others noticed that Riley says she’s fine a lot. Now that he thinks about it, she says it like _all the time_.

_Me thinks the lady protests a hell of a lot more than normal. Or something like that._

_Riley “Sunshine” Matthews [3:44 PM]: See you at school tmrw!_

Well, that’s a relief. It can’t be bad if she’s still coming to school.

==

_Earlier today_

Riley should _definitely_ not be in school.

He noticed it this morning when Riley walked in and was stumbling just a little more than usual, a concerned and annoyed Maya trailing right behind her.

“I don’t get why you insisted on coming to school today. You’re clearly not feeling well!” Maya spat. The two of them sat down, Riley’s movements a bit stiff, next to him and Lucas.

“We have our weekly Spanish test today, Maya. You know I can’t miss that!” She sounded tired. “Besides, it’s just a bug. It’ll go away. I’m fine!”

It was incredibly fortunate that the bell rang at that moment because Zay could tell Maya was about to go _off_.

The three of them stood up to head to class while Riley looked like she was bracing herself for the gesture. Lucas and him were about to offer help but were beaten to it. Maya held her hands out and Riley grabbed them and lifted herself up, giving her a smile that was so sweet, Zay wanted to take a picture of the two of them.

He liked love. Sue him.

He glanced at his best friend. Lucas had an odd look on his face. Not exactly sad but not really peaceful either. Like he was in deep thought.

As Lucas and Maya went to their class and Riley and him went to theirs, Maya held him back.

“Hey.” She said softly. “Keep an eye on her, would ya?”

He saluted. “Will do.”

“Nerd.”

“The ladies love it.”

Now they were in biology and Riley looked like she was about to be sick any second now. All throughout the half hour lecture that he was not paying attention to, he noticed she kept clutching her stomach and taking pained, short breaths. As soon as the teacher let them split up to work on the assignment, he was out of his seat and in front of Riley’s desk.

“I think we should go to the nurse’s office.”

Riley looked up at him. They stared at each other. She nodded.

Zay talked to the teacher, who then took one look at Riley and wrote them both a hall pass.

They slipped out of class relatively unnoticed and as soon as they were in the hallway, Riley leaned against him. He supported most of her weight as they walked through the school.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

He felt her nod against her shoulder.

“Do you want me to carry you? I’m very strong.”

A slight laugh.

“Can I ask you something?” He waited until he felt her nod against him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She paused. “I don’t know why. I just couldn’t.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence and Riley barely noticed Zay send a quick text to Maya.

_Meet us at the nurse’s office_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be out of town this weekend so if the updates aren't as frequent, that's why. I'll do my best though.  
> Also the names that appear in the group chat are how Zay has them saved in his contacts. Not important but just wanted to put it out there.


	5. Zay Babineaux Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part of Zay's chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I'm back from my trip so updates should be a little more frequent now!  
> 2) I still love Zay.  
> 3) We don't know too much about Zay, which is a travesty, but from what we do know about him, he's a sweetheart and I enjoy writing him as such.

“Oh, that’s not good!” The young looking nurse that reminded Zay of his sister said as soon as she saw Riley. Zay paled, which was difficult for him; that was not the reaction he was hoping for. “Come and lie down.”

She ushered them inside the thankfully empty clinic and Zay slowly helped Riley lie back on the wax covered bed. She let out a small sigh of relief at not having to stand anymore.

“Can you text Maya please?” She asked him as they heard footsteps heading towards the clinic. “Oh good, you already did.”

“How did you-?” He was cut off asking how the hell she knew that was Maya when the blonde herself appeared in the doorway.

“Are you alright?” Maya asked, ignoring the questioning look of the nurse and giving him a thankful head nod.

Riley smiled, dull eyes shining slightly. “Better now.”

“Are you…feeling sick?” The nurse questioned Maya and she shook her head.

“Nope.” She walked over to Riley and pulled the nearest chair up to her bedside.

The nurse stared at the doorway for a few seconds, as if expecting more people to barge in, and Zay nearly laughed. “Well, if we’re not waiting on anyone else,” the nurse quipped, “why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?” Riley nodded and tried to sit up but gave up a second later.

“I started to feel sick Saturday night and yesterday I had a bad stomach ache. I thought it was some twenty-four hour bug but I guess not.” She paused, wincing. “It’s getting worse today.”

The nurse hummed. “Any dizziness? Nausea or loss of appetite?”

Riley looked embarrassed and glanced at Maya. “Yes.” For what it’s worth, Zay thought, Maya looked composed though she did narrow her eyes at Riley.

_Guess that was new information._

The nurse put her hand to Riley’s forehead. “Slight fever, from the feel of it. And where is the pain in your stomach?”

“Here.” Riley’s finger hovered just above her belly button and then moved to her right. “And sorta here now.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“What, why?” Maya’s cool composure started to crack. Zay’s too. He moved closer to them. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Well, depending on how this next test goes: best case it’s the flu, worst case… well let’s see.

“Seriously?” Maya and Zay asked in unison. Riley groaned.

“I’m going to have to gently press down on your stomach, okay Riley?”

Riley paled even more. “Do you have to?”

“Yup. This could hurt.” Maya grabbed Riley’s waiting hand and held tight. The nurse put the tiniest bit of effort on Riley’s abdomen and she cried out, tears springing to her eyes. The nurse pulled back right away and Zay unclenched his fists, feeling crescent shaped nail marks on his palms.

“I’m almost positive this is appendicitis. Riley, I need to call your parents and let them know you need to go to the hospital.”

_Shit._

“Shit.” Maya said softly. She looked over Riley with worried eyes and pulled Riley’s white-knuckled hand into her lap. Riley had her eyes squeezed shut as she took quick breaths. Probably still reeling from the sharp pain the nurse inflicted. “Is…is she gonna be okay?” Zay was vaguely aware of the bell ringing, signaling the break between classes.

“She’ll need surgery. And the sooner the better, judging by how long she’s had the symptoms.” The nurse turned around, not noticing the three anxious looks that appeared on their faces. “Wait any longer to get it removed and she risks the appendix bursting, which is potentially fatal.”

 _Wow_ , this lady skipped bedside manner class and went straight to “How to terrify your patients 101”.

She realized her mistake when she heard Maya whimper loudly and turned around with a guilty look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She sighed. “I can be blunt sometimes.”

_Ya think?_

“My dad… he’s a teacher here.” Riley opened her eyes and looked at Maya. “He’ll know what to do.”

Nurse ”Blunt” was relieved. “Oh, good. Can one of you go get him?” She was clearly referring to him since Maya had moved to sit on the bed and was whispering to Riley, who was nodding at whatever Maya was saying.

“I’ll be right back.” He promised. Zay ran back to their science class in record time and picked up both Riley’s and his backpacks, which had been kept on the side. He then made his way to Mr. Matthews class a few doors down.

Zay caught him right as he was about to start class. He signaled for the teacher to come to the doorway.

“Something I can do for you, Zay?” Mr. Matthews asked, looking oddly at his daughter’s backpack.

“It’s Riley. I took her to the clinic and the nurse says she has appendicitis.” Mr. Matthews lost that look of humor that seemed to always be on his face.

“Tell her I’ll be right there. I have to grab my things.”

Zay ran back to the clinic. He would’ve broken a sweat by now if not for ballet training. _Screw anyone who says ballet isn’t a sport. I’d like to see golfers do that._

“Your dad’s on his way. I brought your stuff.” He placed Riley’s backpack on the bed.

“Thanks Zay. For everything.” Riley smiled but looked everywhere except at him.

_I bet she’s thinking of what she told me earlier. Same here._

Mr. Matthews runs in then. “I’m here! I’m here! Riley, are you okay?”

Riley gives a tiny shrug and Mr. Matthews turns toward the nurse, who explains the situation.

Zay moves over to the girls. “Where’s your stuff, Maya?”

Maya shrugged. “I’m sure Lucas took it with him. Can you take it home with you and I’ll pick it up later?”

 _Makes sense. I live the closest to her._ “Sure.” _Wait._ “You’re leaving too?” Zay asked. Maya just raised an eyebrow at him and he conceded. “Right. Stupid question. Though now it’s your turn to keep me posted.” He looked at Riley, who was sitting up now and leaning against Maya. “Feel better, Riley. I’ll come by after school.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it before letting go.

Mr. Matthews comes over and kneels in front of Riley, kissing her forehead. “Hey, sweetheart. Are you in pain.”

Riley nodded and Mr. Matthews frowned. “The hospital is only a few blocks away. Will you be okay until then?”

“I’ll manage.”

“You want to come too?” He asked Maya, who rolled her eyes.

“Obviously.”

“Topanga and Katy should both be at the café today. I’ll call and ask if it’s okay for me to sign you out.”

The look Maya gave him made it pretty clear to Zay that Maya was going whether or not Ms. Hart said yes.

The smile Riley gave Maya made it clear she knew this as well. “Thank you.” She whispered softly to the blonde.

The nurse walked up to them, pushing a wheelchair. “You can use this and return it tomorrow.”

“I appreciate it.” Mr. Matthews said as he lifted Riley off the bed and set her down in the chair with deceptive strength. “Can you push her while I call Topanga and your mom, Maya?” She nodded. “And Zay?” Zay snapped to attention like he always did when a teacher caught him not paying attention. “Thank you.”

With that, the three of them made their way out of the clinic. The nurse turned to him. “Your friend is lucky to have a girlfriend who cares about her so much.”

Zay grinned. “I’ll tell them you said that.”

==

Zay receives the next series of messages from Maya privately.

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [11:40 AM]: she’s been admitted_

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [11:45 AM]: btw did u tell the others?_

Zay did at lunch and they all agreed to meet at the front and walk over together as soon as the last bell rang.

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [12:05 PM]: gone for test to confirm appendicitis_

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [12:27 PM]: it is. duh_

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [12:46 PM]: they gave her morphine. HILARIOUS!!! Will send a vid_

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [12:48 PM]: [1 VIDEO ATTACHMENT]_

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [1:26 PM]: just waitin around with a drugged up Riles_

It’s after school and the four of them are walking the few blocks to the hospital when Zay receives a message that makes him start running, the others yelling after him.

_Maya “2cool4u” Hart [3:06 PM]: Emergency surgery. Her appendix burst_

==

They’d been sitting in the waiting room for one of the tensest hours of Zay’s life. Mr. Matthews had taken an anxious Auggie to the cafeteria in order to calm them both down. Mrs. Matthews was currently reading everything the internet had to offer about appendectomies, which Zay knew was a bad idea because he once made the mistake of looking up why his big toe hurt and ended up with the conclusion that he only had a few weeks to live.

_Stupid WebMD._

Farkle and Smackle had gone for a walk a little while ago and he suspected it was because Farkle was about to cry. Lucas sat next to him and was taking turns looking at Maya and the doors to the operating room hallway with worried eyes.

Maya was…silent.

She had looked relieved when they got there but hadn’t moved from the seat she was in the entire time. She just stared at the wall as if she could see through it. So he was surprised when Maya stood up. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” She walked off.

The two of them watched her go before Lucas turned to him. “I feel like such an idiot just sitting here. I want to talk to her but have no clue what to say. How can I make her feel better about Riley having emergency surgery when I can’t even make _myself_ feel better?”

Zay shrugged. “You said it yourself man. It’s Riley. There’s nothing we can say to make her feel better until we know Riley’s okay.” He paused, wondering if he should bring it up. “There’s nothing more important to them than each other.”

Lucas put his head in his hands. “I know, you’re right.”

They sat there for a few more minutes until Zay decided he needed a break from the tension. “I’m gonna stretch my legs. You coming?” He asked Lucas, who shook his head.

“I wanna stay here,” Lucas trailed off, looking at the same doors to the operating rooms. “Just in case there’s news.”

Zay nodded and walked off in the direction Maya went. He was no good in tense situations. He was a class clown for a reason: making people laugh made him feel good.

He had been walking for a few minutes when he heard crying. And a familiar voice.

Maya.

She was sitting against the wall in an empty hallway, one hand holding her phone to her ear and the other constantly wiping her eyes. “We haven’t heard anything yet. It’s been forever. Why aren’t they done yet!?” She yelled the last sentence and broke down into tears again.

She was quiet for a few minutes. “I’m scared, Mom. What if…what if something happens? I couldn’t…”

Maya sounded more vulnerable than he had ever heard. It was jarring.

“I know. I wish you were here too. But it’s alright.” Silence. “They’re okay, I think. Mrs. Matthews hasn’t stopped reading about the appendix and Mr. Matthews took Auggie to eat. Our friends are here too.” She became silent again and then chuckled. “I will. Thanks mom. I love you too.” She hung up the phone and stayed with her eyes closed for a few moments.

Zay felt guilty for intruding on the private conversation and turned to leave.

“Hey.” Maya said.

He turned, a shy smile on his lips. “Hi. Sorry about that.” She walked up to him and stopped, just staring. He put his arms out and she moved forward and hugged him.

“Are you alright?” He patted her back, felt her shake and his shoulder get wet. She cries for a bit before stopping.

“I will be.”

“For real?”

“Yeah.” She pulled away and looked at him. “I just…I just wish Riley told me sooner, ya know? We could’ve avoided all this. She wasn’t feeling good -I _knew_ she wasn’t feeling good- but every time I asked, she said she was _fine_. I have no idea why she insists on always saying she’s fine when it’s so fucking obvious she’s not!”

“She said she couldn’t.” The words are out of his mouth before Zay realized he said anything. _Oh damn, should not have done that._

Maya looked at him oddly. “What?”

“Uhh…” Zay sighed. _Can’t take it back now._ “I asked Riley why she didn’t say anything when we were going to the clinic. She said she didn’t know why but she couldn’t say anything.”

Maya doesn’t say anything for such a long time that Zay worries she’s had a stroke and is thankful that they’re already in a hospital.

Maya shakes her head. “Riley always does this. She always does whatever she can to help us –Hell, she’d probably find a way to stop the world from spinning if it helped me- but the second it’s her who needs anything, it’s like it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t think it’s important if it’s about her.” She swallowed hard, tears in her eyes once again. “Do you know what Riley told me right before she was wheeled into surgery? She’s sitting there, crying in pain from a burst appendix, and she looks me right in the eye and says she promised to never leave me long ago and she’s not breaking her promise now.” Maya’s laugh is bitter. “She’s the one in the hospital and she’s trying to make _me_ feel better.”

Zay has tears in his eyes too.

“That’s Riley for you.” He says.

Maya deflates. “That’s Riley.”

The two of them make their way back to the waiting room and they stop when they see Lucas, Farkle, and Smackle standing near Mrs. Matthews, who was speaking to a doctor.

Mrs. Matthews looks over the doctor’s shoulder as he walks away, smiles at her and gives her a thumbs up.

Maya exhales and runs over to her.

“She’s okay! Everything went well and she’s in the recovery wing. They said only family for now can wait for her in her room so I’ll call Cory and we can make our way there.” The two of them hug and Mrs. Matthews puts her hand on Maya’s cheek. “She’s okay.” She says again and turns to the rest of them. “Thank you so much for being here. It makes me happy that Riley has such great friends. I’m just sorry that you won’t be able to see her tonight after all of this. But I know when she’s awake tomorrow; she’d love to see all of you. Excuse me.” She walks away, presumably to call Mr. Matthews and Farkle comes over to Maya and hugs her.

“She’s good.” They stay like that for a moment and then let go. Smackle hugs her next and Maya laughs.

“I thought you didn’t like hugs?”

Smackle stands back. “While I still have trouble understanding the concept, Riley showed me it can be an enjoyable experience. Tell her we’re glad she’s okay.”

Maya smiled at Smackle and then Lucas was in front of her. They were awkward for a second, as if they had never hugged before.

_Oh shit I actually don’t think they have hugged before?_

They did hug now but one or both of them pulled away pretty quickly. “I’m glad she’s okay. And that you’re okay.”

“Me too.” Maya said.

“You’ll keep us posted?” he asked.

“Absolutely.” Maya said and then turned to him. They hugged and she whispered “thank you” in his ear and kissed his cheek. Zay saw confusion mix with the relief in Lucas’ eyes.

 _Oh man, I am not the one you should be jealous of._ This “triangle”, if you could even call it that, was all sorts of messed up. How could Zay even begin to explain to his best friend that the two girls he liked and the two people he should be jealous of were all the same people?

His head might _literally_ explode.

“How are you guys getting home?” Maya asked them. Zay shook out of his thoughts.

“My driver will take us. Is your mom coming?” Farkle asked.

“Yeah, she’s gonna come right after she closes up Topanga’s.” Maya looked over to where the Matthews were waiting for her. “I better go.”

“Tell Riley we’re glad she’s better.” Smackle reminded.

“Call if you need us.” Farkle made her promise.

The four of them walked away to leave the hospital and when Zay turned around to look at them one last time, he really did see a family. Or part of one. Only there was a certain waitress and a certain girl who was suddenly appendix-less missing.

He looked back at his friends and smiled. Yeah, they were a family too.

After a few hours, when Zay was getting ready for bed that night, his phone beeped.

It was a selfie to the group from Maya of her and a very drugged but smiling Riley, both giving a thumbs up.

Zay would like to say that if things were different, maybe Lucas could’ve had a real chance with one of them. Hell, maybe he himself would’ve had a chance for a real relationship with one of them. They were great and he couldn’t blame Lucas for liking them.

But as he stared down at that photo, Zay knew that wondering about what ifs would be useless. After all, if you found someone who made you _that_ happy just by being near them, you never let them go.

Zay was positive that was another secret of life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zay's chapters came out a little more "story" like than the first three, which were glimpses into different points in Maya and Riley's life. I just wanted to establish Zay's relationship with both girls, which appears to be very strong since he's said he's thought about being with them and does love them.  
> Also let me know what you think! I do have characters in mind that I want to do but if anyone has suggestions that I haven't thought of yet, I would love to hear them.


	6. Katy Hart

Katy Hart was a bit of a realist. At a first glance, you wouldn’t have guessed it. Hell, maybe not even at a second, third, or ninth glance either. After all, she was an aspiring actress who came to the big city on the very small chance she could make it big. That was the definition of a dreamer.

So maybe Katy did have insane dreamer tendencies. At least, in the beginning.

She grew up in a small town in southern California with her mother and father, surrounded by art and music. Her father was a quiet artist who always seemed to be painting and her mother was an eccentric woman who loved to sing and play the guitar, like her mother before her. Katy’s grandmother had passed away when she was still a little girl but Katy always remembered the smile she had on her face as she played her guitar.

It was impossible to forget, given it was captured in the only photograph of May Clutterbucket that she had.

While her father had painting and her mother had music, Katy was determined to find her own thing. And so she auditioned for the school play. She may not have gotten the lead but she did get a main part and from the moment she got on that stage in front of a full theatre, she was hooked.

And so to New York, she went. In the mornings, she went to community college. In the afternoons, she was at every open audition. In the evenings, she started her night shift at a local diner to pay the rent for an apartment she shared with a roommate. She had success and failure. Mostly failure. And one night, as she was just finishing up her shift after an audition so bad Katy considering packing up and moving back to California, in he walked.

Kermit was kind and funny. He gave her a shoulder to cry on when she needed it. And he was _handsome_. Very handsome. Sure, he could be a bit immature at times: not always knowing when to take something seriously or constantly losing track of his things. But they were still young and Katy was sure he would grow out of it. It’s why, when they got married just a little over a year after meeting each other, Katy was sure they would make it. It was the dreamer in her. She loved him and he loved her. They would be fine.

It’s why she thought nothing of it when they started to argue more than normal. It’s why she made excuses for him when he started to miss more and more get-togethers with their friends. It’s why when the stick turned pink, she ignored his look of panic as she jumped up and down in elation.

During the nine months she was pregnant with, as they found out later on, their little girl, Kermit did everything he should’ve. He massaged her feet, put out her vitamins in the morning, gave status updates to her parents, and took care of all her cravings. Their fighting had even stopped. But Katy knew that with every day, week, month her due date got closer and the panic in his eyes burned brighter, their problems hadn’t really gone away. It was just on hold, building up.

But every worry about the future seemed to disappear the second the most beautiful, bald little crying newborn was put in her arms. She was perfect, all pink and warm, and Katy couldn’t believe she had a hand in creating her. Kermit kissed both their foreheads, lingering on their baby’s, and left the room to go pick up Katy’s parents from the airport. Katy didn’t even notice him leave, her attention solely on her daughter.

_I can’t believe we still don’t have a name for you, Angel. Angel? Nah. It’s certainly accurate but doesn’t fit right. Oh please don’t cry baby. Mommy’s here._

In a few minutes, the baby started to calm down and opened her eyes. Katy knew those eyes from the picture she looked at every night before bed and gasped.

_I got it._

“May. No.” Katy smiled. “Maya.”

Maya smiled.

==

The next few years had its share of highs and lows. Katy had to quit going to so many auditions and take on more evening shifts at the diner to support another mouth to feed. And to buy the unbelievable amount of diapers that were needed. Kermit was at work during the day and got home just in time to put Maya to sleep and for her to walk out the door. They barely saw each other but when they did, it seemed like they were only fighting. And it was noticeable. Katy would never forget how one weekend, when three of them had traveled to her childhood home for her father’s funeral, Katy’s mother had found the time between grieving for her husband and doting on her four year old granddaughter to comment on the sad state of her daughter’s marriage.

As if Katy wasn’t crying enough that weekend.

So yes, there were plenty lows. But also a lot of highs and they could all be categorized under “Maya Hart”.

Maya was a feisty child who never followed the rules and loved music as much as everyone in Katy’s family did. She loved adventures and chaos and from the first moment she picked up a crayon and drew something with a vision few children have, Katy was reminded of her father and cried tears of joy.

Maya was Katy’s bright spot in a crumbling marriage. Maya was the reason Katy got up in the morning. Maya was Katy’s world.

Maya was the reason Katy screamed bloody murder at finding her five year old’s bedroom empty after a fight with Kermit one evening.

Those ten minutes of panic and calling everyone she ever met in a terrifying blur were the worst moments of Katy’s life. Then the phone rang and on the other end was a kind man’s voice explaining that _her_ daughter had somehow ended up in _his_ daughter’s bedroom and does Maya have any allergies because they were about to have spaghetti and meatballs and Maya was hungry.

And so she met the Matthews family: Topanga, Cory, and their five year old daughter Riley.

Oh, Katy had _no_ idea how much her life was about to change.

==

“Mommy, Mommy!” Maya rushed into her bedroom in the morning. Katy jerked awake.

“What is it baby? What’s wrong?” She urged, hand on her chest. Maya crawled on the bed and shoved a drawing right in her face.

“Look!” Maya squealed.

Katy stared at the drawing and smiled. “Aw, that’s wonderful sweetie! I’ll put it on the fridge right now.” Maya yanked it back.

“No! It’s for Riley. Will she like it?” Maya asked, blue eyes hopeful. Katy looked at her daughter with adoring eyes.

“I’m positive she will love it!” If there was one thing Katy knew for sure about that optimistic ball of joy, it was that she loves _everything_. Particularly when it came to her daughter, which Katy was grateful for. Maya looked up at her with smiling blue eyes and Katy ran her hand through Maya’s hair, surprised when Maya let her. She really had changed so much since knowing Riley. Whereas before there was no rule that Maya Hart would follow, she would now at least consider it before most likely breaking it. Topanga had told her of a similar, if opposite, change in Riley. Katy had to laugh. “Go keep it safe so you can give it to her at school today.”

“Okay!” Maya ran out of the room but instead of heading back to her bedroom, she headed for the living room where Kermit had been sleeping for the past few months.

“Daddy look!” Katy heard her daughter say. It broke her heart that Maya didn’t even have to ask why Kermit wasn’t sleeping in the bedroom.

“Nice job, Maya.” He said. “That’s a pretty purple cat.”

==

It was Maya’s seventh birthday and Kermit was late. Katy was actually going to kill him this time.

The party was going on in the living room with some of the students in Maya’s class and their parents but the birthday girl was nowhere to be found. Maya had locked herself in her room and Katy was talking softly to her through the door to no avail.

“Maya, sweetheart, please open the door. Don’t you want to say hi to your friends?”

Nothing. Then she heard the front door open and almost cried in relief when she heard a voice yell “Peaches!”.

Riley ran over to Maya’s room but nearly fell when she saw Katy in front of her. “Oh, hi Mrs. Hart!” Riley hugged her leg.

Katy smiled and patted Riley’s cheek. “Hi, Riley. I’m glad you could make it.”

Cory walked up behind them. “Oh, she wouldn’t have missed it for anything. I swear she was going to walk over here herself if I didn’t hurry up.” He put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Hey, Katy.”

“Nice to see you, Cory.” Katy told him and then got down to eye level with Riley. “Riley, can you do something for me?” Riley eagerly nodded her head and Katy had to laugh at the difference between her and Maya, who would always wait to hear what you had to say before agreeing to anything. “Maya wants to stay in her room. Do ya think you can convince her to come out?”

Riley didn’t even wait for her to finish before marching up to the door and knocking loudly. “Maya!” They heard movement inside the room and the door opened an inch.

“Riley?”

_She made that look too easy._

Katy and Cory watched as Riley made her way into the room and hugged Maya. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ll tell you.” Maya said. Before closing the door in their faces.

Katy and Cory stared at each other. “Well, it seems our presence is no longer wanted.” Katy laughed. Then sighed and Cory became concerned. “Is everything okay? What was that about?” He gestured his head towards Maya’s room.

Katy guided him to the kitchen where she had set up food and drinks. “Can I get you something?” She asked. Cory stopped chewing whatever sweet he had already put in his mouth and shook his head.

_Like father, like daughter._

“She’s upset because Kermit isn’t here yet. If he’s even gonna show up.”

Cory swallowed the rest of the cupcake and gave a brisk “Ah”. In the two years since their daughters had known each other, since they themselves had become friends, Katy had learned that when Cory didn’t try to defend someone, it was code that he hated them.

_Probably can’t understand how a man could just ignore his family. Topanga’s a lucky girl._

“I don’t think you two have ever met, right?”

“Nope.” There was an awkward silence.

“So…” Katy was desperate to change the subject. “How’s the newest little Matthews doing? I told you I wanted to see new pictures.”

Cory smiled and got his phone out. “Auggie is great. He’s ruining everyone’s sleep schedule but he’s great.” Katy laughed then aww’d at several pictures of the newest baby Matthews. “Topanga wanted to come but…”

“You’ve got an eight week old at home. I know the drill.” Katy finished. “He’s precious! And already so much bigger than I last saw him.”

“At the hospital, right?” Katy nodded. “Say, did you run into Shawn?”

“Who?”

“Shawn. He- ah, maybe you missed him. He was leaving around the time you and Maya came.”

Katy vaguely remembered someone exiting Topanga’s room in a hurry but she got distracted as they heard cheers from the living room.

“Happy birthday, Maya!”

“Hi, Maya!”

“Hey, Riley!”

“Ladies!” Katy didn’t need to see who that last one was, already knowing it was that odd yet sweet boy with eccentric name.

_Frackle? Nah…Farkle! Yup, he loves to hang around Maya and Riley._

Katy was relieved though. Riley had gotten Maya to come out of her room faster than she expected and now she could enjoy her party. She felt a pang of sadness at not being able to do it by herself but brushed it aside. She was lucky her daughter had such a good friend.

The two girls ran by them in the kitchen and straight for the hot dogs.

“Happy birthday, Maya!” Cory told her in their rush to find the ketchup and mustard.

“Thanks, Mr. Matthews!” Maya yelled on their rush out.

“Do you ever think they live in their own little world?” Cory asked her.

“All the time.” They laughed and Cory interrupted himself with a yawn. “You must be getting no sleep, huh?”

“Maybe four hours, collectively.” Cory said and Katy winced. That was one part she did not miss. “Riley hasn’t been able to sleep either though she hasn’t said anything.”

“Oh yes she has.” Katy smiled. “I’ve heard her tell Maya how she has no idea how someone so _small_ could create so much _noise_.”

Cory chuckled. “Poor thing. I feel her pain.”

“Why doesn’t she spend the night? If you don’t have any other plans.”

“Oh I couldn’t do that to you. You’ll probably be exhausted after the party.”

“It’s no trouble.” She explained. “Riley’s great and you know how they are: always keeping each other occupied.” Katy peeked at the girls. “And it might make Maya feel better.”

Cory immediately nodded. “Of course. I’ll just run back home and get her stuff.”

Katy smiled. “Thank you.”

As the party went on and they enjoyed cake and opened gifts, Kermit never showed up. And Katy felt the last of the dreamer in her fade away.

==

Katy was at the Matthews’ residence at 1 AM on a Friday night downing her second scotch while Topanga was on her second cup of coffee.

“You’ve been off all night.” Topanga said. “Are you ready to talk about it now?”

Katy looked back towards Riley’s room and Topanga answered her unasked question. “The girls are asleep and Cory is on baby duty. Now spill.”

She took a deep breath. “I told Maya it was my fault.”

Topanga’s eyes widened. “What?

“She came into my room in the middle of the night, balling her eyes out, asking what she did wrong, why did he leave, did he love us, was there something she could’ve done…” Katy choked up and stopped talking. Topanga held her hand.

“That poor girl. That must’ve been awful.”

“I couldn’t let that bastard leave and have Maya blame herself. I just couldn’t. How could I explain to her that her daddy just left her? I can’t even explain it to myself!”

Katy finished her drink and when Topanga went to pour her another one, she declined. Topanga poured them both fresh coffee instead.

“So I told her I did it. I said it was my fault and he left because of me and that he loved her so much.”

Topanga squeezed her hand. “That was incredibly strong of you, Katy.”

“It was also incredibly stupid. My mother got so mad at me.”

“How are you adjusting to living with your mom again?”

“I’m so grateful that she moved across the country to help us. I really am. And I know that ever since my father passed away, she’s been lonely. So I know she’s happy to be here.”

“But…” Topanga coaxed. Katy chuckled.

“But I’m living with my mother! I feel like I’m in high school again.” They laughed. “Plus I’ve been sleeping on the couch since our place is too small. We’re going to need to move soon.”

They let the lighter moment fill them and didn’t say anything for a while.

“Maya’s a strong girl, Katy. You raised her well. She’ll get through this.”

Katy sighed. “I know. I know she will. She’s resilient. And she has your daughter, which I’m thankful for.” Topanga smiled. “I can’t even explain how happy she gets when she knows she’s going to see Riley. It’s adorable.”

The two of them laughed. “Riley’s the same. Cory and I used to be worried that she would be lonely; she was always so quiet and didn’t really know how to make friends. Then she met Maya and that was that.”

Katy outlined the rim of her mug with her now bare ring finger. “Maya used to be _such_ a troublemaker. But she’s become much tamer now.”

“Probably because Riley is terrified of getting in trouble.”

Katy smiled. “Maya does not have that problem.”

They heard Auggie start to cry and two seconds later, they heard Cory shuffling through the hall, loudly whispering that everything was under control.

“You have a good one there.” Katy told her.

Topanga had a kind smile. “Thank you. I don’t know if we told you but Cory and I met when we were kids. Maybe a little younger than Riley and Maya.”

Katy’s eyes widened. “Nope, you never mentioned that. That’s so funny. Did you two just know each other or were you friends?”

“Oh, we were friends. Technically we dated when we were three. Our friend Shawn was certain it was meant to be.”

Katy had to muffle her laughter. “Oh really?”

“Yup. Then for a couple of years we weren’t as close but still friendly. And then in middle school, we became close again. And started dating for real that time.”

“So you two have been together pretty much your entire lives?”

“Just about. We did have a lot of drama together though. You could probably make a show about it.” They laughed. “It reminds me of Riley and Maya in a way.”

“Well, we’ll have to see. Maybe it runs in the family and the two of them are set for life with each other. That would be a relief, honestly.”

“They certainly have a ‘meet cute’, as the kids say.”

“Yup. My daughter just _happened_ to pick your daughter’s window to crawl through. It really makes you believe in fate.” Katy hummed. “We did good, didn’t we?”

“That we did.” Topanga chuckled and raised her mug. “To the in-laws!”

Katy clinked their mugs. “To us!”

==

Looking back at her and Topanga’s conversation long ago, Katy knows she meant it as a joke at the time. But watching Maya and Riley grow up together convinced her she might’ve accidentally predicted the future. Every interaction between them held an extra weight that wouldn’t be found between just close friends. And they weren’t exactly subtle about it either.

Katy could see it in the look of adoration on Maya’s face as she watched Riley dance in their living room as she played her great grandmother’s guitar. Katy remembered being so blown away by how the universe brought together the great granddaughters of May Clutterbucket and Rosie McGee and being so touched by how Riley looked at Maya as she played that Katy could feel the dreamer buried in her start to take form again.

It was especially noticeable whenever Maya was on the phone with Riley in the odd times they weren’t together and Katy’s mother would count on her fingers every time Maya would call Riley “Honey”. And always ended the call with an “I love you”. And always got embarrassed when she noticed her mother and grandmother paying a bit too much attention to her phone call and yelling in frustration on the way to her room.

_Oh sweetie_ Katy and her mother were cracking up. _Once you cross into romantic nicknames, you ain’t fooling nobody._ The dreamer in her laughed as well.

And Katy thought it was laughably obvious how much the two of them should be together when they got each other the sweetest – and somehow matching- Christmas gifts that she felt sad for anyone who thought the two were just friends.

Especially that sweet blonde boy who kept looking over at them during the Matthews’ Holiday party. _Oh Lucas, it’s not your fault._

“So don’t take this the wrong way,” Katy said to Topanga as she joined her in the kitchen, “but I am seriously considering pushing Riley into my daughter the second the two of them are near the mistletoe.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Topanga copied, “but I might beat you to it.”

They laughed and looked over to where Cory was talking to Shawn. “Do you think Cory has figured it out yet?”

“I honestly don’t know. Sometimes he can be oblivious but other times he’s quite perceptive.”

Cory must’ve sensed they were talking about him because he turned around and waved. Shawn did the same and winked at her. Katy blushed.

“Ah.” Topanga smiled. “It seems there’s more than one couple I need to get under the mistletoe tonight.”

“One couple at a time, Topanga.” Katy said as they clinked their glasses, reminiscent of a time years ago. “One couple at a time.”

Katy made a promise to herself long ago to put Maya’s happiness above all else, including her own. But as she watched Maya tenderly guide Riley by the hand to look at the gifts under the tree, Katy thinks it might be time to find someone who will prioritize her own happiness, the way she and Riley have done for Maya.

Katy smiles at Shawn from across the room and the dreamer in her tells Katy to go for it.

She listens.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Katy. I do. So since we don't really know too much about her, I wanted give her a little backstory before we got into the Rilaya of it all.  
> I also didn't expect the chapter to be this long because, like I said, we didn't know too much about her.  
> I'm sorry if some of the parts seem a little sad. I was sad while writing it. But at least I ended on a hopeful note!   
> Hope you enjoyed : )


	7. The Teachers

_Gabriella Kossal_

Gabriella never planned to be an art teacher at John Quincy Adams Middle School. She never even thought of being a teacher until she was doing her undergrad in art history and her own professor suggested adding a teaching certification. So she did. And Gabriella wouldn’t change it for the world.

It could be a tough job. Children were unruly, especially during the odd years between being a child and a teenager. There was constant job uncertainty due to budget cuts and increased pressure to raise the grade of the school and let’s face it; all of the art subjects were seen as expendable when it came to saving money. Not to mention, the unfortunate fact that working in a school could be dangerous these days. Being a teacher was no easy task.

But more often than not, Gabriella would get groups of kids that loved to learn about different artists and were excited to create their own pieces. Most of the students were average in their abilities. Some were above average and some were- a certain purple girl immediately comes to her mind- below. But she appreciates that Riley does her best. They all do and she loves every single one of them for it.

However, once every few years, Gabriella would have a student that was so talented, so gifted, in the art of creativity that all of the negative job aspects flew out the window and she would walk into her classroom excited to see what they would create next.

For the past two years, that student had been Maya Hart.

She had known it ever since that first class when a blonde sulking girl and her happy brunette friend sat down next to each other at the easels. Gabriella didn’t bother to introduce herself yet. She just gave the simple instruction.

“Draw anything.”

The class was confused for a moment but went with it. She gave them fifteen minutes before making her rounds. She saw drawings of families, dogs, a river, even a simple circle.

She then came to the two girls in the corner. Riley had drawn a purple…cat perhaps, on her page. Gabriella laughed and gave her points for creativity. Then she came to Maya’s work.

Maya had drawn Riley. She could tell it was Riley because it looked _exactly_ like her. It was uncanny. And it was beautiful.

“Maya, this is incredible.”

Maya blushed and looked down. “Thanks.”

“I wanna see!” Riley said and peeked over at Maya’s table. Her eyes widened, as did her smile. “Aww, Peaches, you drew me?”

Maya blushed even more. “It’s nothing.”

“No, not nothing.” Riley told her. “Thank you.” They smiled at each other. It was a cute moment, brought to life with a sweet innocence that only children and the rare adult could bring before the harsh world soured them of their ideals.

Gabriella also might have minored in philosophy.

The moment was interrupted, or maybe perfected, when Riley tapped Maya’s nose, leaving a purple mark. “Boop.”

The two girls laughed and Gabriella spent the rest of the class getting to know the other students. But since then, she paid special attention to Maya.

Any art teacher knows that you can understand an artist’s mind by looking at their work. And except for her assignments that had an assigned subject, Maya’s mind was on Riley.

Whether abstract or concrete, in color or sketching, Maya drew Riley for the same reason Gabriella began to understand Riley kept drawing increasingly ridiculous purple cats: the subject made them happy. And while Riley’s drawings may make Gabriella bang her head on her desk, Maya’s drawings certainly did not.

Maya had drawn Riley sitting under the sun. She had drawn Riley floating lazily in a lake. On a busy New York Street. On the planet Pluto. In the countryside. Riding a purple cat, which she supposed had been Riley’s idea.

Maya had even drawn Riley surrounded by hearts early on, which is what made Gabriella think their friendship was moving into “middle school crush” territory.

But the most telling piece was the last one they both did before they graduated eighth grade. Gabriella had kept the subject light, wanting her favorite class to enjoy their last week. “Draw your favorite place.”

The two of them drew the same place. The “Bay Window”, they both called it.

Maya’s drawing had both of them sitting there. Riley’s drawing looked like she had attempted to draw the same thing but the various eraser marks said she had given up and drawn a –you guessed it- purple cat instead.

“This place is important to you both, isn’t it?” She asked them.

They looked at each other and smiled. “Yeah. It is.” Riley answered, not looking away from Maya.

As Gabriella browsed through Maya’s sketchbook during her planning period, which was unnecessary since she already knew Maya was getting an ‘A’ in her class, she had to laugh.

Maya was a real artist.

Her subject Riley, not so much.

But as she looked through the sketchbook, it was clear that Riley was a muse. And a damn good one.

An artist and their muse. It doesn’t get more romantic than that.

_Harper Burgess_

Harper knew she was going to bring a change to John Quincy Adams the moment she saw that hers was the only motorcycle in the faculty parking lot. Whether it would be a good or bad change, she would have to see. But oh, a change she would bring.

Her father had given her a love of literature and had helped cultivate her love of writing. An English teacher was the only path that ever made sense to her. And she liked middle school. Kids were very impressionable at that age and she loved making a difference.

So you better believe that when a teaching position opened up only a few months into the school year, she jumped on it. She didn’t care that the reason the position was open was because the old teacher would rather retire than deal with them. She loved all kinds of books and was confident she could get the students to as well.

And the interview process could not have gone better, thanks to her qualifications and help from another teacher named Cory Matthews. From the moment she had walked into the interview room holding her helmet, his eyes had lighted up and he asked her all the right questions about what kind of teacher she wanted to be and how she thought she could help the kids.

Whether it was because they liked her _so_ much or because they were really crunched for time, they hired her right when the interview was over. And Cory took her out for a congratulatory coffee afterwards and told her everything she needed to know about the students in her classes. One class –and one group- in particular.

Here’s what she took away during that very informative coffee talk:

  * Riley Matthews- Cory’s daughter. He loves her a lot, obviously. Stickler for the rules and pays attention in class. Very outgoing and wacky at times. Can be easily identified from her sweet smile and because she’s attached at the hip to her best friend.
  * Maya Hart- The best friend. Unsurprisingly, can be found next to Riley at all times. Acts like she doesn’t care but cares a lot. Smarter than she wants people to know. Needs a push.



He talked about them the most: about how they were at school and even home. The way Cory had gone on and on describing those two girls reminded Harper of her and her girlfriend but she didn’t bring it up. Back to the kids.

  * Farkle Minkus- Genius. Plain and simple. Might make you feel dumb. Correction- will make you feel dumb. Don’t worry; all the teachers feel that way. Needs to be first. Well meaning.
  * Lucas Friar- Don’t trust him. No, you can. He’s nice and a respectful student. Tries his best. Possibly 36 years old. Please keep him away from Riley. And Maya too. If it’s not too much trouble. But he’s nice.



Harper hadn’t even started teaching them and she knew it was going to be _great_.

And it was. The kids were exactly as Cory described them and over the next few months, she had grown to care for them more than she thought possible. And she was about to know them even better because they were starting one of her favorite sections: creative writing. The best way to know anyone is to see how they express themselves.

Harper started them off easy. Paragraphs, poems, look at this picture and describe what you see. She wanted to get a feel for her students.

Maya was good. But Harper wasn’t surprised that Maya was in touch with her creative side, given that she was an artist. She wrote well, even if most of her poems were about how much she disliked poetry.

Farkle was average, though she would never dare say that aloud. He was just trying too hard to excel and if he were to focus more on writing what he felt instead of impressing her, he’d be good.

Lucas was clearly not meant for creative writing. He tried, Harper saw him try hard, but he had no idea how to express himself. He had one train of thought but would switch to another and then go back and forth before getting so frustrated that he would just stop. He could never decide how he wanted his writing to go.

But there was one student who was able to move Harper with their words from the shortest of paragraphs to the longest of essays. Riley knew exactly what she wanted to write from the second Harper finished giving them the assignment, even if she never volunteered to read it in class. Harper was pretty sure that she didn’t let anyone see what she wrote. Not even Maya, whom Harper had seen staring more than once at Riley as she blocked out the world and focused on the quickly filling page in front of her.

Riley could describe emotion so vividly that Harper felt them every time she read Riley’s work. Harper once assigned them to write a poem about their best friend and Riley’s poem was so full of accidental romantic undertones that it both surprised Harper the two weren’t together yet and also made Harper want to head home early and kiss her girlfriend.

Riley could make the reader happy. She could make them angry, confused, or jealous. Hungry even, which was impressive.

Riley could also describe incredible sadness with such ease that it honestly concerned Harper. Especially when the class turned in their journals at the end of the section and Harper could sense a melancholy tinge growing slowly as she turned the pages through Riley’s notebook.

Harper had asked Riley to stay after class one day, earning odd looks from her friends, and asked if she was okay. Riley was surprised but smiled, appreciating the concern but said she was fine. Harper had no choice but to let it go and assure Riley that her door was always open to talk about anything Riley wanted to talk about. Anything.

_Like if you’re feeling sad sometimes. Or want to talk about your feelings for your best friend that you always write about but haven’t discovered how you truly feel yet. I can help with both._

She didn’t say it aloud but hoped she made that clear.

She did think it was cute though that Maya hadn’t been able to continue on to lunch without Riley and waited in the hallway for her to be done. Riley expertly diverted any questions about the meeting and two of them continued arm in arm to the cafeteria.

Harper shook her head. She had been keeping an eye on those two since Cory first described them, wondering when they would figure it out and hoping they would come to her. Harper would tell them it took her a while to figure out she was in love with her best friend too. And that it could be confusing for girls when you’re already so close.

But until then, Harper was content seeing them remain close friends, regardless of this incredibly awkward triangle between them and Lucas that seemed to be the only thing the entire class cared about. It was a weird school.

For now, Harper was content to do what she did best and teach.

 

_Coach Jackie Kelly_

Six years.

Six tryouts.

Six rejections.

Six near aneurysms.

Again, six _years_.

For six years, Jackie has had to hold unnecessary tryouts for her “well oiled machine” cheerleading squad all because of one girl’s, two if you count someone who was reluctantly made to tryout for five years, desire to be a cheerleader.

Riley Matthews. The girl who had been a thorn in Jackie’s side ever since the first tryout and the girl who had finally broken her six years later. There was no doubting that Riley had spirit. She had the attitude of a cheerleader that Jackie could have maybe admired if it wasn’t so overshadowed by the fact that the girl had no coordination at all. None. Babies had better balance.

But no matter what Jackie did, Riley Matthews showed up all three days. First with the same blonde girl, who didn’t look any happier to be there even when just sitting on the sidelines, then with her whole group of friends. For three days, Jackie displayed questionable behavior trying to push the girl to quit and even gave Riley a bell to ring when she had finally had enough.

Everyone rang the bell. Riley did not. Then the bell went missing and she didn’t make the team.

Then Samantha and Jenkins _betrayed_ her and Riley Matthews became a cheerleader, or at least an alternate.

Coach Jackie Kelly never thought she’d see the day but here it was. While Riley was being congratulated by her friends and the team -Maya, if she recalled the name correctly, spinning her in a hug-, Jackie could only watch as she tried to convince herself she wasn’t impressed.

There was something about Riley Matthews that made Maya come with her all these years to hopeless tryouts. There was something about this girl that made her best two cheerleaders betray her without a second thought. There was something about her that made all these people root for her and cheer when she made the team.

Jackie was going to spend the rest of the season finding out what it was that drew people to Riley Matthews.

==

Turns out, it was easier than she thought it would be once she started paying attention.

==

“Matthews!”

“Yes, coach!” Riley yelled much too loudly. Jackie saw Maya cover a laugh. She always sat in the stands during practice, either fiddling in her sketchbook, cheering her friend on or covering her eyes when Riley inevitably fell down. Sometimes the other friends came too but every practice, Maya was there.

“Get to third position and catch.” She told her. Riley nodded.

“Right away, coach!” At the very least, she was always eager to do as she was told.

She started the routine and when the time came, Riley actually caught Jenkins. And almost dropped her in shock. Maya cheered loudly and Riley was staring at her hands in disbelief while being hugged by a thankful Jenkins.

“Matthews!” She yelled.

“Yeah? I mean, yes coach!”

“Good job.” Jackie ended practice and turned away, but not before seeing Maya fist pump the air and Riley blowing her a kiss.

Jackie didn’t smile. She almost did, but she didn’t.

==

Jackie did not like birthdays. She didn’t like celebrating others’ birthdays and she most definitely did not like celebrating her own. She was sure no one even knew when her birthday was.

Which is why she was surprised when she walked into the tiny side room of the gym that had been designated “Coach Kelly’s office” on the morning of her birthday and saw Riley, excited and holding a box, and Maya, trying to disappear into the corner.

“Happy birthday, Jackie!” Riley sang. Maya groaned.

“What are you doing here? Jackie? Birthday?” She said in a clipped tone.

Riley was undeterred. “I got you a present to celebrate your big day!”

“No.”

“What?”

“I don’t want it.”

“You…” Riley’s smile faded and Jackie noticed Maya stand up straighter. “You don’t even want to see what it is?”

“I have spent a very long time not celebrating my birthday and I do not plan on starting now.”

Riley frowned but opened the box anyways. Inside were half a dozen powdered donuts.

“One for every year I tried out.” Riley explained softly.

They stared at each other.

“Put the box on the desk.”

Riley did so and quickly hugged Jackie before she could understand her personal space was being invaded.

“Aw, coach! I knew I was worming my way into your heart!” Riley exclaimed, smiling again. She went in for another hug but Maya was able to snatch her back before she made that mistake.

“Okay, that went great! Let’s go now. Please. Let’s go.” Maya grabbed Riley’s hand and dragged her out of the room.

Jackie looked at the box of donuts for a second before relenting and picking one up.

“Do you think she still hates me?”

Jackie stopped. She could just barely hear Riley’s voice as the duo was down the hall but she could make out the tone. It was the same small tone she heard from the girl on the third day of tryouts, when Jackie’s behavior had been less than admirable.

“Honey, no. I’m sure she likes you. She just can’t show anything but disapproval.”

Jackie knew she deserved the comment. It hurt but it was true. She took a bite of the donut and promised to try harder.

==

Jackie didn’t even see what really happened. All she saw was most of her cheerleaders suddenly on the ground and a blonde blur whizzing past her into the center of the chaos.

Of course Riley would have caused this.

“Matthews, what happened?” She questioned as she called for a break and started helping her team up.

“I’m not really sure.” Riley got to her feet with Maya’s help and winced.

“Did you bruise your butt, again?” Maya asked her.

“I bruised my tailbone, yes.”

“So your butt.”

“Tailbone.”

“Butt.”

“Tail. Bone.”

Jackie had heard this conversation too many times before. “You know the drill. Go get some ice and sit on it.” Riley leaned against Maya and they hobbled off towards the ice machine. Jackie sighed and headed back to her bench where Samantha and Jenkins were sitting.

“Riley’s so lucky that Maya comes to watch her at practice.” She heard Samantha whisper. “I can barely get my boyfriend to sit through one of them.”

“You think they’re together?” Jenkins loudly whispered back.

“You think they’re not? Maya’s here _all the time_. And Riley got distracted today because she was looking at her. Not for the first time, either. They gotta be together.”

“What about that Lucas guy?”

“Whose the one always in the stands?”

Jenkins laughed. “Huh. I guess I never thought about it like that. That makes sense, though.”

“I just wish my boyfriend cared about me that much.”

“I’ve told you need a new boyfriend.”

“Like who?” Samantha questioned.

“How about that Zay guy? He’s here sometimes and you two always smile at each other.”

“Hmm…Zay.”

As the conversation turned to more high school drama, Jackie stopped listening.

She wasn’t oblivious. Or heartless, as some thought. She could tell there was something going on between her newest cheerleader and her friend. She was perfectly capable of recognizing love, having experienced it herself.

It was the part where she also experienced how cruel life could be when it took love away from you that gave Jackie Kelly her less than warm attitude. She watched the two girls by the ice machine, throwing the ice at each other like they did every time even though the poster on the machine specifically stated to not _do_ that.

As she saw Maya put an ice cube down Riley’s skirt, claiming it’ll help her feel better while Riley shrieked, Jackie allowed herself a small smile. Yes, life could be cruel. But as she thought of the days she had with her husband before things took a turn for the worst, she knew life could be kind too. She hoped the two of them had plenty of life’s kindness ahead of them.

After all she had put Riley through, the girl definitely deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had more teachers planned but these are the three I ended up with. And if you ever told me that I would be writing from Coach Kelly's POV one day, I would not believe you.  
> Also, not sure if anyone was wondering but eventually, this will have a plot. Each chapter will still be different character's POVs, but I have an idea on how certain characters will help move the story along. In case anyone was curious.   
> Let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy!


	8. Joshua Matthews

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just over two weeks since the last update. I never wanted to leave that large a gap so I'm really sorry for the delay. My only excuse is that I was at San Diego Comic Con last week and it threw me off my schedule. But I'm back now!

Josh has always felt a little… out of place. Always. It didn’t matter what stage he was at in his life, he had never felt like he found a place to fit in.

It began at home, like most things do. He was born to Amy and Alan Matthews at a time when they thought having more children was impossible due to their climbing age. And it almost was: Josh was born prematurely with complications affecting his respiratory system and needed to have surgery if there was any chance that he was going to make it. Scary stuff, he assumes; it’s not like he remembers. The only long-term consequence he deals with is his unpredictable asthma flare-ups. That, and the worried eyes he gets from his family members every time he has the slightest runny nose.

 So home life was a little weird. And school life, though an improvement, still didn’t give him the balanced feeling he desired. Sure, he was smart and handsome and got along with people but he’d always see or hear people talk about the one thing that had remained elusive to him: a _best_ friend.

_What did you do Saturday, Jerry? Oh, my best friend Sam and I went paintballing and it was fucking awesome!_

_Tanya, what are you up to tonight? Ugh, Maria really wants to see that stupid zombie movie that came out and I gotta go with her cuz she’s my best friend._

He had friends, yeah. But he never had a best friend. Someone who would be automatically on his team when they played games or would be forced to see hilariously awful movies with just because one of them wanted to. Someone who he could connect to and have real deep conversations with.

He knew it sounded like he was describing his “dream girlfriend” but he’s seen the strongest relationships come out of the strongest friendships so you know what, maybe he was.

Josh has a good family and had a good childhood. He’s grateful for that. But growing up with parents that were constantly mistaken as his grandparents, siblings that instead looked like your aunt and uncles, _and_ never having a friend that you felt comfortable talking about your feelings with made for a weird experience. Add that to being told that _you_ were now an uncle when you’re three years old and you get a kid whose hopes for being normal have been long dashed.

Josh wouldn’t lie though; it was a relief to have someone in your family to grow up with, even if he and Riley lived in different states. Being only three years apart made it seem like they were brother and sister instead of uncle and niece: opposite to the relationship he had with his actual siblings. Riley and him would play together, nap together, and would always get along whenever they saw each other. Riley was the closest thing he had to a best friend when they were younger.

And then Riley met a girl named Maya Hart. And suddenly whenever Josh saw Riley in New York, Maya would be right there too.

Josh was an observant guy. Growing up on the sidelines, you didn’t really get a say in the matter. And what he saw between his niece and her best friend –who giggled whenever she saw him but always went back to Riley- was definitely worth observing.

It was a lot of little things that added up. Like how Maya would always be there when Josh would spend weekends at Cory’s place. He’d watch the two of them run around the apartment, trying to find things that only they could apparently see. And how if they would play hide and seek together, the two of them would always hide in the same spot even if it made it easier to find them.

And who were they kidding? Josh always found them in twenty seconds or less because they could _not_ stop laughing. It made him laugh too. And then Maya would jump on his back and announce it was his turn to hide and he better get moving. And then Riley would have to pull Maya off of him because she wouldn’t let go. Some things never changed.

Another thing that never changed? Maya would never leave Riley to hide with him instead. Every time, he’d just stand there watching the girls run off to find a place to hide where Josh _couldn’t possibly_ find them. And he always got that familiar pang in his chest about not having a best friend who was there to hide with him.

Josh also thought their bond was especially noticeable when they were, funnily enough, apart. This usually happened when the New York Matthews would come back down to visit the Philadelphia Matthews. Josh remembered one Thanksgiving a few years ago when Riley had been quiet during the rowdy holiday dinner; too quiet for the usual bright and cheery Riley Matthews. She barely laughed when Cory and Shawn told tales of their troublemaking childhood and Mr. Feeny would just stare at them in disapproval that barely concealed amusement. She had a strained smile during the group photo they took to send to Uncle Jonathan and Josh saw Topanga and Cory exchange worried glances. So Josh wasn’t the only one who noticed that she barely talked at dinner. But he was the only one who saw her slip upstairs once dessert was cleared away from the table and everyone retreated to the living room.

Josh gave it a few minutes to see if she would come back down and then followed her. He found her sitting on his bed, tracing the design of the Phillies bed sheets his mom had gotten him. He knocked on the open door even though it was his room.

“Can I come in?” Josh asked. Riley looked up and nodded. He sat down next to her and was concerned when Riley wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, still looking down.

“You sure?”

Riley hesitated then looked at him. Josh could see unshed tears in her eyes. “I’m worried about Maya.”

Josh became worried too. “Is something wrong?”

“Maya…her dad’s getting married again. She got the invitation in the mail last week.”

Josh sighed. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” A tear slid down Riley’s cheek. “She says she’s fine but I know she’s lying. I just wish I knew how to help her.”

“I know.” Josh put an arm around Riley’s shoulders. “That’s a tough one. For what it’s worth, I think you do already help her a lot.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that the two of you always know how to make each other feel better. Take it from someone who has had to third wheel both of you many times: no one is closer than you two. Not even Cory and Shawn downstairs. Trust me.” Josh felt Riley stiffen when he mentioned Shawn’s name but ignored it, focusing on the bigger issue at hand.

“I hope so.”

“Maya will be okay. She’s the strongest person I know. And the two of you can get through anything. You’ve already gotten through the first half of sixth grade and that’s brutal.”

Riley lightly punched his arm and laughed. “Thanks, Josh.”

“Tell you what. “Josh said, standing up and finding the house phone on his desk. “Call her and make sure she’s okay.” He handed her the phone.

Riley started. “Oh, I couldn’t. It’s long distance and-.” She stared at the phone in his hand. “You guys still use a landline?”

“Hahaha, young niece of mine. You forget your grandparents are from the twentieth century.” She took the phone.

“Thanks, Josh.” Riley smiled at him, looking more like Riley than she had since she got there. “Do you want to say hello?”

“Nah, you’re the one she needs to talk to, not me.” Riley nodded and started dialing Maya’s number by heart.

Josh chuckled and closed the door on his way out, smiling when he heard his niece’s relieved laugh travel down the hall.

==

So yeah, Josh considered himself a pretty observant guy. It was partly the reason he was so pissed that it took him so long to figure out that Riley and Maya’s relationship was definitely deeper than being “best friends”. And like mostly everything else, the observation started at home.

==

It was almost noon on a Tuesday morning and Josh was fast asleep in his childhood bedroom. College life was amazing.

And then his phone rang.

“Uhhhh.” Josh groaned, half-heartedly searching for his phone while his eyes were still closed. He just managed to locate the source of the terrible sound and forced his eyes open to see who was disturbing him.

_Your favorite niece!!!!_ was what he saw on the screen, along with a picture of him, Riley, and Maya at the Statue of Liberty. He patted his face to wake up more and answered.

“Hey, Riley.” He slurred. _Damn, I’m so tired. What time is it?_ He glanced at his alarm clock. _11:53. Shit._

“Hi, Josh.” Riley sounded a little tired too. “Did I…did I wake you up?”

“Doesn’t matter. Should get up now anyways.”

“I thought you had class on Tuesdays?”

“My classes these last two days got cancelled so I came home to visit mom and dad on Saturday. I’m driving back to NYU later. Wait, aren’t you in school right now?”

“Lunch.”

“Ah.” He waited for Riley to continue but she was silent. “So, what’s up?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know if you remembered but Maya’s birthday is next Saturday. Not this one, but the next one.”

“Oh, awesome.”

“And I’m trying to plan a scavenger hunt for her, followed by a party afterwards at my place. And I…I was wondering if you were able to make it? If you can’t, it’s fine, but if you can-.”

Riley was acting really weird. “Riley, slow down! Of course I’ll be there.”

“Oh, good! I’m glad.” Josh could make out that Riley wasn’t lying but it didn’t sound like she was entirely truthful either. “I know that she would really like to see you. I…it would mean a lot to her.”

“It’ll be nice to see her. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has.”

They were both quiet for a while and Josh can’t remember ever being so unsettled while talking to Riley. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.”

More silence. “Is there something I can do to help?”

“Well, actually, there is.” Riley’s voice became lighter again and Josh breathed a sigh of relief. “I had this idea for the scavenger hunt where…”

==

It was the Saturday of Maya’s birthday party and Josh was sitting in a cozy ice cream parlor, which was famous for their huge sundaes and located on the other side of town. The only reason he knew about this place was because Riley and Maya had taken him here once a few years ago and since then, he had vowed to always come back when he was in this part of the city because _damn_ , was the ice cream amazing.

He had to hand it to Riley: she really did an amazing job with this party. A scavenger hunt throughout the city, with a friend at each stop, waiting to give out the next clue? It was pretty brilliant. And difficult, if his clue was anything to go by.

Seriously, he’s read it about fifty times since Riley handed it to him last night before rushing out to spend the night at Maya’s house, and he still has no idea what it means. He’s just glad it’s not meant for him.

Josh glanced at his watch. 3:15 pm. According to Riley’s text, they should be here soon. He read the clue again and shook his head.

The door opened behind him and the jingling of the bell was drowned out by the laughter of the two people he was waiting for.

“Josh!” Riley said, coming up to his table and hugging him quickly.

“Uncle Boing!” Maya laughed, following suit and hugging for a longer time. Riley tugged her off after a bit and Josh laughed. Nice to know some things always stayed the same. “I didn’t know you’d be here!”

“Riley invited me two weeks ago and of course I came! I wouldn’t miss it.” He put an arm around Maya’s shoulders and noticed Riley’s smile falter out of the corner of his eye. “Happy sixteenth birthday, Maya.” He wished her, letting go as they all settled down at the table.

“That’s right; I’m sixteen now.” Maya had a mischievous glint in her eye. “Sweet sixteen. And you’re only two years older.”

“It’ll be three years in a few weeks.”

“But right now, it’s two years. That’s old enough to drive. Old enough to-.”

Riley popped out of her seat. “So, who wants a birthday sundae?” She yelled.

Maya looked at her oddly. So did Josh.

“What? Sorry, it’s just that we have a schedule to keep. There will be plenty of time to catch up later at-“ Riley clapped her hand over her mouth and Maya smiled.

“Catch up later at the what?” Maya prodded.

“At the nothing. My bad.”

“There is a party later, isn’t there!”

“Nope.”

Maya turned to him. “Boing?” Josh stood up.

“You know what, I’ll get the sundae. My treat for the birthday girl.” As he got in line, he could hear the two girls going back and forth about whether there was a party later tonight. By the time he came back with the giant sundae, Maya was doing a walrus impression and Riley was doubled over laughing.

Josh wasn’t sure he wanted to know the events that took place while he was waiting in line.

They ate the ice cream so fast that they got simultaneous brain freeze and then it was time for Josh to hand Maya the next clue.

“Good luck with this one, Maya.” He said, giving her the envelope. “I have absolutely no idea what it means.”

Maya eagerly ripped open the envelope and read it. “Where did the astronaut first ride the horse?” She smiled and looked at Riley. “Demolition?”

Riley nodded. “Demolition. But first, picture time.” She opened her bag and took out a polaroid camera. “We’ve been taking pictures at all the places we’ve visited today.” She explained.

“Yeah, we got some really great ones.” Maya told him. Josh held up the camera, since he had the longest arms, and hoped that he got all three of them in the shot.

“All right, see you later!” They exclaimed.

“Wait, don’t you want to see how the picture came out?”

“Tonight. I’ve got it all set up.” Riley said.

And the two of them took off to whatever Demolition was.

==

The party was in full swing and Maya was busy explaining where the scavenger hunt took them while Riley was handing her the photos.

“And then, we met Smackle for mani pedis at the salon.” Riley handed her the corresponding picture and Maya put it up on the giant board that detailed the day’s events.

The more pictures that went up, the more Josh really noticed how elaborate the whole thing was.

Zay at the movie theatre.

Topanga at the museum.

Lucas at the subway.

Grandma Hart outside a bar. He was curious about that story.

It must’ve taken a shit ton of work and planning to put everything together and to make sure everyone was in their assigned places at the right times. Not to mention, when did she even have time to plan all of this without Maya finding out?

Josh walked over to the board when everyone was distracted by cake. As he scanned over the pictures and saw how happy Riley and Maya looked, something in his gut was telling him to look deeper. So he did.

_Huh._ Josh wondered, as each of the smaller pictures started to form a bigger one in his mind. _I wonder…_

It was getting late and Maya had decided to open her gifts tomorrow so that she could stretch out her birthday weekend. If Maya was too tired to go on, the party was definitely over.

They ran into each other in the kitchen. “You staying over?” He asked.

“Yup, I’m all set up in Riley’s room. How about you, Boing?” Maya teased.

“Auggie was kind enough to share his room tonight. So did you enjoy your birthday?”

Maya gave him a genuine smile at the question; not one of those usual troublemaking smirks he got from her. “It was _perfect_. I don’t know how Riley manages to outdo herself every year but she does. I can’t even imagine what next year is going to be like.”

Josh decided to test something. “Well, she loves you more than anything. She’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

_Let’s see how she reacts to my definitely non platonic implications._

Maya’s smile somehow became even brighter. “I feel the same way about her.”

_Wow._

“You two are lucky to have each other.” Josh continued.

“I wouldn’t be me without her.” Maya told him. “G’night, Josh.”

As Josh watched her walk away, he was beginning to realize there was a whole different level to Riley and Maya’s relationship than just friendship.

==

Josh and Cory had dozed off on the couch around midnight, only to be woken up by Topanga moments later.

“Head to bed, you two.” She told them, happy when the brothers immediately stood up. “Oh, Josh?” He turned to his sister in law. “Auggie’s hopefully asleep so please try not to wake him?”

He saluted. “Will do.”

As he made his way to Auggie’s bedroom, he noticed that Riley’s door was open and that her and Maya were sitting at the bay window.

“So…” Riley started. Maya immediately gave Riley her full attention. “Did you really have fun today?”

“Today was amazing, Riley.” Maya told her, taking the girl’s hand. “Thank you so much.”

Riley smiled. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. Today is high up on the list of my favorite days. Above the day Shawn proposed to my mom and tied with the day I met you.”

“Awwww.” They both said and hugged. Josh choked back a laugh.

“It’s not over yet.” Riley told her. She grabbed a box from her bed and sat back down. “Happy birthday, Maya.”

“Riley! You already gave me the perfect gift. You didn’t have to do this!” Maya told her, eyes wide.

“Hold your horses. Open it.” Riley told her and Maya did as she was asked.

It was photo album.

“Oh my god.” Maya laughed, going through the pages. “When did you even have time to put all of today’s pictures into an album?”

“I had to rush. A lot.”

“Ah. So that explains,” Maya lifted up one of Riley’s hands, “why you have so many paper cuts.”

Riley laughed. “It was tough. But Zay helped out too. I asked him to keep you distracted.”

“That’s why he kept challenging me to see who could stuff more marshmallows in their mouth!”

“You won, of course.”

“Obviously.” Maya reached the end of the album. “There’s one spot left.”

“Oh, yeah.” Riley pointed to the camera on her dresser. “There’s one picture left. Since it’s your birthday, I thought you should decide what you wanted it to be. If you...” Riley was staring at the floor so she didn’t see Maya rise up and grab the camera, “wanted to take a picture with Lucas maybe, or with Josh. I don’t know, I just thought-.”

“Say cheese.” Maya told her.

Riley looked at her and smiled. “What?”

“I want to take it with you obviously. We don’t have even one solo picture together from today. How did that happen?”

Riley linked their arms together as Maya sat down. “Probably because we have pictures with everyone else.”

“Yeah but I want one of just us. So say cheese.” Maya told her as she aimed the camera towards them.

They both smiled at the camera until the last second when Riley turned and kissed Maya’s cheek. Maya’s smile was wider than he’d ever seen it.

They waited in comfortable silence, Riley’s head resting on Maya’s shoulder, for the image to appear.

“That’s a cute picture.” Maya commented when she saw it.

“All of our pictures are cute.” Riley told her.

Maya slid the picture into the back of the album. “I lied before.” Riley looked at her curiously. “Now it’s definitely my favorite day.” They smiled at each other before they both yawned.

Josh backed away and walked into Auggie’s room. He was having trouble breathing. Literally. He hoped he remembered to pack his inhaler.

As he quickly and quietly got ready for bed that night, Josh knew one thing for certain: you didn’t need to be an observant guy to realize that what those two had went far, _far_ , past the line of friendship.

And to think, all this time Josh was using their relationship as a perfect example of a close friendship. He had no idea he should’ve been using it as a perfect example of soul mates as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a way, I'm sort of glad I updated after Ski Lodge Part 2 came out. It confirmed a lot of what I thought about Josh and made me more comfortable writing him.   
> I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought!


End file.
